Jorge Mas Canosa

In a final, emotional demonstration of love and respect, thousands of Cuban exiles on Tuesday buried Jorge Mas Canosa _ the man who had promised they would all someday return to a free Cuba. As his father's coffin was lowered into the earth, Jorge Mas Jr. _ his oldest son and heir apparent _ sprinkled dirt from Cuba on it. Sobbing family members and close friends of the fallen exile leader huddled around the gravesite. "We shall return soon," the son said softly. Mas, the founder of the Cuban American National Foundation and the driving force behind more than a decade of opposition to Fidel Castro, died on Sunday of cancer-related complications.

When the U.S.-Cuba Democracy Political Action Committee held its annual luncheon at the Biltmore Hotel in Coral Gables last year, the political wattage in the room rivaled the grandeur of the historic landmark. Then-Gov. Jeb Bush; incoming Gov. Charlie Crist; U.S. Sen. Mel Martinez, R-Fla.; Republican presidential hopeful Sen. Sam Brownback of Kansas; and U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Weston, were among those at the late-December gathering of the 4-year-old group. Several of the politicians praised the PAC, whose quick ascent as a lobbying arm of the pro-embargo segment of the Cuban-American community has drawn comparisons to the Cuban American National Foundation, once the sole voice of the exile community and now one of the many such groups.

It was an impromptu and touching tribute from the loyal followers of a man who embodied his people's enduring quest to rid Cuba of Fidel Castro. As the coffin carrying the remains of Jorge Mas Canosa was lifted from a black hearse outside a Little Havana church on Monday, a single voice, choked with sorrow, began to sing Cuba's national anthem. Another voice followed, then another, until a tearful rendition of the song, which praises the act of dying for one's country, reverberated through St. Michael's Church on an overcast day that seemed scripted for a funeral.

Alfredo Mesa might be the new face of the Cuban American National Foundation, but as its new executive director he must confront an old set of controversies. Spanish-language radio programs greeted with a familiar round of criticism the news last month that Mesa, previously a senior adviser and public affairs director for former Miami-Dade County Mayor Alex Penelas, would fill the high-profile foundation job. Several Cuban exiles blasted the foundation, as they have in recent years, accusing it of betraying the principles of its late leader Jorge Mas Canosa.

After much talk about renovating the Freedom Tower, one of Miami's historic landmarks, its owners are backing the promise with a $1 million donation. The donation from the Jorge Mas Canosa Freedom Foundation comes two weeks after a local preservation group listed the 1925 downtown Miami tower at the top of its endangered historic sites list. The Cuban-American National Foundation said the announcement is not a response to the Dade Heritage Trust's criticism over the tower's state of disrepair.

By WILLIAM E. GIBSON Washington Bureau Chief and Staff Writer Deborah Ramirez contributed to this report, February 12, 1998

The scene looked so much like the old days, back when Jorge Mas Canosa prowled the capital, gathering support for a tougher and tougher embargo against the Cuban regime of Fidel Castro. All the familiar faces were there. Friends and family came from Florida. Conservative luminaries came to speak. Anti-Castro hard-liners from around Capitol Hill gathered to show solidarity at a special memorial service on Wednesday in honor of Mas, the late Cuban exile leader. Yet behind that scene, cracks are showing in the once-monolithic Cuban-American lobby that Mas once dominated.

His voice boomed across Cuba. It echoed in the White House. It conspired against comunismo in a walled compound that was the center of America's crusade against Fidel Castro. But Jorge Lincoln Mas Canosa is now silent. He died Sunday afternoon without seeing his life's dream realized: a Castro-free Cuba. "My father was not only a family man, but a patriot. He dedicated his life to his country, but, sadly, he will not set foot on a liberated Cuba," said his oldest son, Jorge Mas Jr., at an emotional news conference Sunday evening.

A story published May 25 on Page 5B failed to make clear that a defamation settlement by The New Republic in a lawsuit brought by the late Jorge Mas Canosa, founder of the Cuban American National Foundation, involved the headline of an article and not the content of the article.

Jorge Mas Santos, a Miami businessman and chairman of the Cuban American National Foundation, has been elected to the board of trustees of Nova Southeastern University, according to university officials. Mas, 39, son of the late Jorge Mas Canosa, was elected on Monday.

Miami The Mas Family Scholarship Awards, founded by the late leader of the Cuban American National Foundation, have been announced. This year's recipients are Nicole Gonzalez-Dasen, who received a $3,000 scholarship, Daniel Roberto Martinez, who received $2,000, Giancarlo Sopo, who received $4,000, and Andrea Marie Zorilla, recipient of a $2,000 award. The scholarships, established by Jorge Mas Canosa and his family in 1997, are given every year to Cuban-born students and students of Cuban descent.

For two decades, Cuban-Americans often spoke with a single anti-Castro voice, that of Jorge Mas Canosa, the charismatic and mercurial leader who made the Cuban American National Foundation a powerful lobbying group. Through the foundation, Mas Canosa strengthened policy on Cuba, most notably through the U.S. trade embargo against the island. Many considered him the most influential Cuban exile in the country and thought he could be the next democratic president of Cuba. Those dreams died with him, however, on Nov. 23, 1997.

Miami The Mas Family Scholarship Awards, founded by the late leader of the Cuban American National Foundation, have been announced. This year's recipients are Nicole Gonzalez-Dasen, who received a $3,000 scholarship, Daniel Roberto Martinez, who received $2,000, Giancarlo Sopo, who received $4,000, and Andrea Marie Zorilla, recipient of a $2,000 award. The scholarships, established by Jorge Mas Canosa and his family in 1997, are given every year to Cuban-born students and students of Cuban descent.

Former members of the Cuban American National Foundation have created the Cuban Liberty Council, the latest anti-Castro group devoted to promoting liberty and democracy in Cuba. Most of the new group's members are former directors and trustees of the Cuban American National Foundation. They left CANF because they said the new leadership, led by Jorge Mas Santos, made unilateral decisions and betrayed the legacy of late founder Jorge Mas Canosa, Mas Santos' father. By contrast, the Cuban Liberty Council, or CLC, will have no president or chairman.

Former members of the Cuban American National Foundation who resigned over ideological differences with the exile group's leadership are forming their own organization. Details about the new group, which will include former foundation spokeswoman Ninoska PM-irez CastellM-sn, will be revealed at a news conference at the Biltmore Hotel in Coral Gables this morning. Luis ZM-zM-qiga, a former CANF director who is among those starting the new group, said they will detail how their group is different from anti-Castro groups such as CANF.

The Cuban American National Foundation expects a lawsuit over the organization's name to be settled out of court soon. Last month, the foundation sued Mario Miranda, former bodyguard to CANF founder Jorge Mas Canosa, in federal court in Miami to prevent him from using the name "Cuban American National Foundation," which he registered in Florida in May. The suit accuses Miranda of trademark infringement, trademark dilution, false advertising, unfair competition,...

By Madeline BarM-s Diaz Miami Bureau and Staff writers David CM-azares and Rafael Lorente contributed to this report, August 26, 2001

Cuban American National Foundation Chairman Jorge Mas Santos and Miami-Dade Mayor Alex Penelas put themselves on the line when they decided to woo the Latin Grammy Awards show to Miami. For months, the Cuban-American leaders endured criticism from exiles who opposed the presence of Cuban artists from the island at the ceremony, saying the artists are agents of Fidel Castro. Mas Santos was accused of turning his back on the principles of his late father, Jorge Mas Canosa, and more than 20 directors and trustees of his organization made a public exit from the group.

Americans, having fought the British for their freedom, have no respect for those who sit here and cry about the plight of those they left behind. Castro will leave when he is removed, not by Jorge Mas Canosa's venting his outrage on Miami news stations. Better he should vent his feelings on Castro in person, at the head of the Cuban Exile Army come to remove Castro from power. PENNY C. NEBRICH Sunrise

MIAMI Cuban exiles in Miami on Tuesday took part in a Mass and graveside service to commemorate the two-year anniversary of the death of Jorge Mas Canosa, the charismatic chairman of the Cuban American National Foundation. Friends and relatives staged a wreath laying ceremony at Woodlawn Cemetery in Little Havana and a Mass at the Church of the Little Flower in Coral Gables.

The Cuban American National Foundation, a longtime pillar of the exile community, now finds itself on shaky ground. Nearly two dozen board members resigned on Tuesday, expressing frustration with leader Jorge Mas Santos' shift to the center and with his management style. This mass exodus shouldn't prompt anyone to write the foundation's epitaph. The organization is clearly in a shakeup mode and what may emerge remains to be seen. But Washington should no longer assume that hard-liners speak for the majority of Cuban-Americans on Cuba matters.

By Madeline BarM-s Diaz Miami Bureau and Staff Writers Vanessa BauzM-a, David CM-azares and Rafael Lorente contributed to this report, August 8, 2001

Calling the leadership of the nation's most prominent Cuban group "undemocratic," a group of directors and trustees of the Cuban American National Foundation resigned Tuesday, the latest development in a widening ideological rift. Those who resigned accuse foundation leaders of making unilateral decisions without consulting them. Foundation leaders accuse the dissidents of picking up and leaving because they didn't get their way. Both sides lay claim to the legacy of the organization's patriarch, Jorge Mas Canosa.